Learning Indonesian Online
So you want to learn Indonesian? Thanks to the internet it is possible to learn some without even leaving your home. Though nothing is as good as getting out there and learning in-country, there are a great number of resources out there to give you a good foundation before going to Indonesia. The purpose of this page is to provide a list of quality resources that will help you whether you're just getting started learning Indonesian, or you are hoping to build upon your existing knowledge.Getting Started
For those who need a quick introduction to "survival Indonesian" or those who want to learn Indonesian but don't know where to start then here a few sites to whet your appetite.
- Bahasa Indonesia for expats has basic phrases along with sound clips
- Hello-Indonesia's pronunciation guide, will help you to understand the sounds of the Indonesian alphabet. Alternatively you can download the .pdf version
- Bahasa Indonesia in 7 days is an excellent booklet, which the author has made available online. It covers a range of topics Numbers, Being polite, Asking Questions. It also has a handy pronunciation guide, along with a helpful word list. Another location of Bahasa Indonesia in 7 days, which also contains audio clips.
- Sejarah Indonesia has interesting information on the history of the Indonesian language as well another excellent pronunciation guide
- Word Seeks will help to familiarise you with numbers, days of the week, and months.
Hungry for more...
Well if you want to learn something a bit more substantial then, then using the following sites with a little determination you could really learn alot.
- Indonesian 101 also has some helpful phrases about Transportation and Lodging
- Indonesian Phrasebook on WikiTravel
- Handbook on Bahasa Indonesia has phrases for any situation a traveler to Indonesia might come across.
- Beginning Indonesian by the University of Victoria is an excellent resource. It covers a range of topics. It differs from the previous links in that it is structured in Lessons and contains a lot of interesting activities. I have written a detailed review of this website and it is available here.
- Hello Indonesia offers alot of resources, you have to sign-up first, but that is free.
- BahasaPOD has some good lessons in the format of podcasts that you can listen on your iPOD. Currently there are two episodes available #1 How to greet in Bahasa Indonesia and #2 Related to the earthquake
- SEAsite has a great range of the stuff, not all of it is necessarily for Beginners, but its sure to have something for everyone
After trying out a few of these sites then test yourself with these quizes and activities.
- Indonesian Quiz
- This CrossWord, I designed with Hot Potatoes
Advanced Learners
For those that have mastered the basics, and want something a little more challenging then try these websites
- Inside Indonesia has a great number of interesting and relevant activities that are related to real life news articles.
- Reading and Conversation at SEAsite will keep you busy
- Melissa is creating her own Indonesian language blog which will be focused on Advanced Learners
- Tempo Interaktif magazine has an abundance of interesting articles online in Indonesian to challenge you.
Dictionaries and Online Translation
I have already prepared an extensive list of Online Indonesian Dictionaries. This includes a short review and a rating for each of them. Below is just a few dictionary links, and also a handy translation tool.
- Kamus.net the best Online Dictionary available.
- Download an Indonesian-English Dictionary.
- Download an English-Indonesian Dictionary.
- Toggletext is the place to go if you want to translate small amounts of text or websites in Indonesia for free.
Podcasts
For those wanting to practice their listening skills, then Podcasts are a convenient way to do that, as you can download them to you iPod and then listen to them wherever you go.
- Equinox DMD has around 40 episodes focused on the Music Scene in Indonesia
- Prambors FM also has heaps of interesting episodes
- Political Podcasts by the President of Indonesia
- BBC news has podcasts in Indonesian
Other
Interesting sites about the Indonesian language that don't really fit anywhere else
- Wikepedia entry for Bahasa Indonesia
- Collection of Indonesian Tounge Twisters
Indonesian for Non-English Speakers
There are also a few sites that teach Indonesian through the medium of languages other than English.
- Trav Lang will give you Indonesian phrases from almost any language!
- インドネシア語を学びましょう is a blog teaching Indonesian to Japanese speakers
- Lupusで学ぶインドネシア語 is also another Japanese blog which has many reading comprehension questions for Japanese learners of Indonesian
- Here is a good place for Japanese to learn about Indonesian culture and language.
- Индонезийский за семь дней is a Russian version of "Bahasa Indonesia in 7 days"
Links, Links, and more Links
Above I've just listed a few links that are of good quality and that I think will help you. There are however plenty more links available, some good, some bad, some current, some no longer online. If you want to spend some more time searching around then here are some sites with links and resources related to Indonesian Language and Culture.